Judge Says Georgia's Gay Marriage Ban Is Invalid

By

Carlos Santoscoy

|
October 09, 2015

In what is effectively a formality, a
federal judge in Georgia on Wednesday ruled that the state's ban on
gay marriage cannot be enforced.

The Supreme Court in June declared that
gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
Georgia state probate courts have been issuing marriage licenses to
gay couples since the high court's June 26 decision.

LGBT rights group Lambda Legal last
year filed a legal challenge to Georgia's ban on behalf of three
couples and a widow.

“The Court agrees … that Obergefell
requires entry of judgment in favor of Plaintiffs because Obergefell
prohibits the enforcement of [Georgia's marriage amendment] to
exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage on the same terms and
conditions as opposite-sex couples, or to refuse to recognize a
lawful same-sex marriage performed in another State on the ground of
its same-sex character,” wrote U.S. District Judge William Duffey.

Duffey said that the Supreme Court's
ruling in Obergefell means that Georgia's marriage ban can't
be enforced.